Entries by Nathan Ives

Risk Management Best Practice 4 – Risk Quantification

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Each organization faces a unique set of risks challenging the continuity of its operations. All risks, however, are not equal. In order for an organization’s leaders to economically manage their business’s risks, they must first understand each risk’s inherent and residual value. Failure to quantify the organization’s risks produces a less meaningful set of potentially adverse events; lacking relevance, priority, and return on investment information and often resulting in the application of either too many or too few resources applied to address these challenges.

Evaluation and Control Warning Flag 2 – Absence of Evidence as Evidence of Absence

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When examining organizational performance, assessors too often fall into the trap of concluding that the absence of adverse outcomes indicates a lack of underlying performance issues. This is an evidential fallacy. Many organizational shortfalls exist without causing consequential outcomes for reasons of redundant barrier prevention, lack of recognition, or simply blind dumb luck. The lack of a noticeable consequence does not necessarily equate to an absence of an issue; it simply means that the problem itself, up until the point of examination, has not manifested itself in a substantial outcome.

Post System Implementation Challenges

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A performance measurement system’s complexity and organizational impact can bring with it many people, process, and technology challenges post implementation. For several months following a system go-live or significant upgrade, the organization adjusts its processes, procedures, and behaviors so to achieve the best possible reflected performance. This evolution is not without its costs or problems.

System Implementation Challenges

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Organizational performance measurement systems are complex constructs that significantly impact leadership decisions, employee behaviors, and management processes and systems. Consequently, there are often many people, process, and technology challenges associated with the implementation or significant upgrade of such monitoring systems. By understanding these potential risks, leaders can put in place mitigating instruments to reduce the overall organizational impact and increase the likelihood that the new measurement system will be accepted and have the desired positive impact on performance.